Some Yoyo Stuff

Some Yoyo Stuff

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Movie Reviews of Some Yoyo Stuff

Movie Review: A rare look at what Van Vliet is up to now...
Summary: 5 Stars

"Some YoYo Stuff" is a great tribute to the man who was "Captain Beefheart" and who is still very much Don Van Vliet. The movie is not about Captain Beefheart (even though a huge sticker on the box yells "A MOVIE STARRING CAPTAIN BEEFHEART") but about Don Van Vliet, and almost exclusively about Don Van Vliet the painter. Some incredible piano pieces of Van Vliet's provide accompaniment to some amazing filmed images (my favorite is the fish over the desert), and David Lynch admits his favorite piece is "The Dust Blows Forward and The Dust Blows Back", but that's the closest this movie comes to the Captain.

The film is a series of images with Van Vliet speaking. You see Don Van Vliet (yes, it's really him) in front of what looks like a screen. The screen projects questions that are never vocally asked, but are answered by Van Vliet, but not by the Van Vliet on the screen. The Van Vliet on the screen never talks, but he does smoke a cigar and gesture. The topics range from favorite paintings to Frank Zappa to Van Vliet's "message to the people watching" (worth the price of admission alone). Van Vliet's voice is obviously burdened and weary, but the content is amazing, funny, and poignant (listen for his comments on how he hopes that animals are smart enough to stay away from people).

Much of Van Vliet's dialogue echoes a radio/phone interview that Van Vliet gave in 1993 to a Dutch radio station (clips of this are available on the internet). This is, I believe, one of the last audio interviews with Van Vliet known of (I could be completely wrong, and if I am, please send me a link). Assuming that his condition has worsened since this film and the interview (both dated 1993), Van Vliet may no longer be capable of granting interviews. Let's hope that's not the case.

If you're interested at all in what Don Van Vliet is up to these days, this film is one of the few audio/visual sources of information. It is also a great tribute to an underrated and underappreciated artist and his work.

Summary of Some Yoyo Stuff